School support in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: what is different?

Much online SEND advice is written for England and presented as though it covers the whole UK. It does not. Asking a Scottish school to move a child onto "SEN Support" or requesting an EHCP in Wales can obscure the useful question because those are not the systems in use.

The practical method remains familiar: describe the barrier, include the child's view, ask what provision is in place, identify responsibility and review effect. The names, statutory plans and disagreement routes change.

Scotland: additional support for learning

Scotland uses additional support needs and additional support for learning. The concept is broad. A child or young person may need additional support for a short or long period because of factors connected with the learning environment, family circumstances, disability or health, or social and emotional circumstances ^[1].

Education authorities must identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of pupils for whose education they are responsible. School staff share responsibility for identifying needs and putting support in place. Most needs are met through provision available within school, sometimes with education-authority or other-service involvement ^[2].

What to ask the school

Begin with the class teacher, guidance or pastoral staff, support-for-learning staff, or the person coordinating additional support.

Ask:

• What additional support need is the school identifying?
• What support is currently provided, by whom and in which situations?
• Which plan records it?
• How has the child's view been included?
• What outcome or access difference is intended?
• When and with whom will it be reviewed?

Scottish schools and authorities can use several planning documents. A coordinated support plan (CSP) is a statutory plan for children and young people who meet a particular legal test involving significant additional support from the education authority and at least one other appropriate agency. It is not the default plan for everybody with additional support needs.

Do not wait for a CSP question before discussing current classroom support.

Information and disagreement help

The Scottish Government identifies Enquire as the national advice and information service for families and professionals. Local authorities must provide information and routes including mediation under the additional-support framework. Tribunal or adjudication routes depend on the decision, so obtain advice about the individual issue rather than assuming one escalation path.

The Equality Act 2010 also applies in Scotland. Disability adjustments are a separate question from whether a child has a CSP.

Wales: ALN, ALP and the IDP

Wales uses additional learning needs (ALN). A child or young person may have ALN where a learning difficulty or disability calls for additional learning provision (ALP). ALP is educational or training provision additional to or different from that generally made for others of the same age.

When a learner is identified as having ALN, the ALN and provision are recorded in an individual development plan (IDP). The IDP is statutory. It replaces the old divide between school-level plans and statements for learners brought into the new system ^[3].

Maintained schools have an additional learning needs coordinator (ALNCO). Where a school or local authority becomes aware that a learner may have ALN, it must follow the applicable decision process, notify the child or young person and parent, identify a contact and support participation. Current Welsh guidance describes school and local-authority timescales and stresses clear reasons and communication ^[4].

What to ask the school

Ask the class teacher or ALNCO:

• Has it been brought to the school's attention that the child may have ALN?
• Who is coordinating the decision?
• What information is being gathered and what is the timescale?
• What support is being used while the decision is made?
• If ALN is identified, what ALP will be specified in the IDP?
• Who will maintain the IDP and secure the provision?
• When will the IDP be reviewed?

The child's and parent's views should be supported throughout. The plan should describe meaningful outcomes and provision clearly enough for the learner to understand where possible ^[4].

Information and disagreement help

Every Welsh local authority provides ALN information and advice, arrangements for avoiding and resolving disagreements, and access to independent advocacy in applicable circumstances. A parent may ask the local authority to reconsider certain school decisions, and specified decisions can be appealed to the Education Tribunal for Wales.

Which route applies depends on whether the school or local authority made the decision and what the decision concerns. Use the local authority's current ALN information service before assuming that a school complaint is the only route.

The Equality Act 2010 applies in Wales alongside the ALN framework.

Northern Ireland: the current SEN Code and statements

Northern Ireland currently uses special educational needs (SEN), the existing Code of Practice and its staged approach. Schools identify and support needs, and the Education Authority (EA) becomes involved for statutory assessment and statements. The EA's current parent pages cover school support stages, statutory assessment, statements and annual reviews ^[5].

The Department of Education confirms that schools, the EA and relevant health bodies must consider the existing Code of Practice and its supplement when identifying, assessing and providing for SEN ^[6].

A current reform warning

Northern Ireland has been developing a new SEN framework, including proposed roles and personal learning plans. However, the Department announced in June 2026 that implementation of the proposed SEN Regulations, previously planned for September 2026, is expected to be delayed until September 2027 ^[7].

Some schools may already use personal learning plan materials voluntarily. Do not assume that every draft role, timescale or document has replaced the current legal process. Ask the school:

• Which current Code stage is being used?
• Who is presently responsible for coordinating SEN provision?
• Is this an individual education plan, personal learning plan or another school document?
• What current duty or process does the school say applies?
• Has the EA become involved, and for what purpose?

That question respects local practice without describing reform as complete.

What to ask the school and EA

Start with the class teacher, the person currently responsible for SEN or the headteacher. Ask what the school has identified, what support it provides, what has been reviewed and whether outside advice or EA involvement is needed.

Where a statement exists, ask which provision it specifies, who arranges it and how the annual review works. A statement is not needed before a school begins responding to SEN.

The EA's SEN Helpdesk and current SEN Plan of Arrangements pages are the authoritative starting points for current service contacts ^[5].

Disability adjustments

Northern Ireland is not governed by the Equality Act 2010. The separate SENDO framework makes disability discrimination unlawful in education and includes reasonable-adjustment duties. Use Northern Ireland equality advice rather than quoting the Equality Act as the governing law.

A comparison you can take to school

This table is orientation, not a complete statement of eligibility or appeal rights.

What remains the same in a practical meeting

Whichever nation applies, ask for:

• the child's view;
• the specific learning or participation barrier;
• information from relevant settings;
• provision that can be described precisely;
• the role responsible for delivery;
• the intended effect;
• a review date and evidence source;
• the decision and next route in writing if you disagree.

The cornerstone school-support guide develops those shared questions. Use national terminology when discussing rights, but do not let the terminology replace the child's ordinary day.

If your child crosses a national border

A move between UK nations involves more than a transfer between local authorities using different forms. The legal plan and responsible bodies may change.

Before the move, ask the current school or authority for the latest plan, review record, provision detail, professional reports and the child's own current profile. Contact the receiving school and relevant authority early and ask:

• which national process will consider the existing information;
• what support can begin on arrival;
• who decides whether a new national plan is required;
• how current health, safety and disability adjustments will operate meanwhile;
• which dates and contacts the family should record.

Do not assume that an English EHC plan automatically becomes a Welsh IDP, a Scottish CSP or a Northern Irish statement with identical provision. Equally, do not accept that all practical support must start from zero. Current evidence about the child's access and effective provision remains relevant even where a new legal decision is required.

Give the child a clear explanation of which daily arrangements will stay the same and which are still being decided. Administrative uncertainty should not arrive as an unexplained change in their first week.

Sources

1. Scottish Government, Additional support for learning
2. Scottish Government, Additional support for learning statutory guidance 2017
3. Welsh Government, Education is changing: additional learning needs
4. Welsh Government, Additional learning needs: decision-making and communication
5. Education Authority Northern Ireland, Special Educational Needs
6. Department of Education Northern Ireland, Special educational needs code of practice
7. Department of Education Northern Ireland, Givan voices disappointment over delay to SEN Regulations